Red Steel 2
Summary After the surprising success of its predecesor, Ubisoft had decided to come forth with a sequal for Red Steel. This would bring not only better graphics and more smoother animation as well as redefined controls. But it would also bring a different story to the mix. Story In the Red West, a nameless "swordslinger" who is a former member of the sacred clan known as the "Kusagari" was discovered by a gang known as the "Jackals" and their leader named "Payne". In the midst of what would be a wild ride on his motorcycle, Payne steals the swordslinger's sword and runs away. Then, the swordslinger saves a chinese sowrd master named "Jian". As he enters the city of Caldera, he fights the Jackals, but soon realizes that he must recover his sword which is the fabled "Sora Katana" of the Kusagari clan. He must keep whoever wants the Katana. Gamplay More dynamic than the first game. The gameplay in Red Steel 2 allows you to use either your sword or a firearm of somekind (the .357 Longarm, the Twin Barrell, the Johnnygun and the Sidewinder). You fight from lowly grunts like the Jackals or the more highly trained Katakara and the mysterious Ninjas. But the bonus is that you can destroy some objects and openn chests of some kind to receive money, and you can use that to upgrade your weapons or purchase new ones as well as purchase power-ups of some kind. You also learn how to use your sword more proficiently as the game progresses either it be hidden strikes or a power move. Johnny's review General thoughts At first, I wasn't interested in playing this game. Because of the atmosphere of the game, it was like an old western movie meets an Akira Kurosawa movie. But once I've seen video on Youtube, it changed my mind. Once I played it I was blown away. Graphics The graphics are Cel-Shaded, but they were nicely done this is the game with the more decent Cel-Shaded graphics since The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The towns and atmosphere was also great I liked the mix of the American Old West with not only Feudal Japan, but modern Japan as well. The character design was also well done. The enemies also have that traditional/modern feel as well and the cut scenes (well, some of them) were very nice. Rating: 8 (out of a possible 10) Music The music was also good. This as well has a great blend of old western type music (with the guitar and other western instruments) and old Japanese instruments (like the flute and the Koto which is a Japanese guitar) and it also has a nice set of action tracks (when you're facing enemies). Thugh, there 's a drawback. The soundtrack to this game is quite limited so listening to the same tracks in this game over and over can get quite tiresome. Rating: 6 Gameplay The gameplay is solid and very dynamic in some situations. You can also have a break in the action by bashing into objects or opening chests to get money. Plus, the game allows you to look at the current objectives (just in case you lose track on what you should do next). So, there is seldomly nothing to do in this game. Of course you don't have to complete *every* objective in the game, but it's a suggestion to keep you occupied. Though, the only problem I have with the gameplay is that the swordslinger always seems to go for his sword when enemies attack (though I use the sword more than the guns) but if I wanted to cap off an enemy or shoot a nearby explosive barrell, I would like to go for a gun in that situation. Rating 7.5 Story The story does have its ups and downs. Though, it does a good job telling about the clan and what's going on in the game. But the concept of the game's story is kind of weak as there's things in the story that's left unanswred (like how the swordslinger was banished in the first place or exactly how Shinjiro covets the Sora Katana). But as you progress through the game, more about the Sora Katana is taught. Rating: 5 Sound/Voice The sounds are very crisp and dynamic the grunts of the enemies are very nicely done and the guns sounded very well as does the explosions in this game. The voices (eventhough not anybody famous did this game) were also done well. Of course, Tamiko's old western dialect was very well done (though a bit out of place for an asian woman to have an old west dialect). the laughs of the bad guys were also nicely done. Rating: 7 Replay Value There's a lot to do ith this game, even if you manage to defeat Shinjiro at the end of the game, you have to play it again because there's always things you have missed, places you haven't been to, objectives you didn't complete, sword techniques, weapons, upgrades and power-ups you haven't tried. So, Red Steel 2 is worth to play again and again. Rating: 8.5 Final Thoughts I would like to say that Ubisoft has outdid themselves with this game (the predecessor was almost a disaster). They have worked out all of the problems with the first game and made a real nice sequal for a game. Though, it may not be up in the pantheom of greatest sequals of all time (like The legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Super Mario Bros. 3). But it really deserves some regonition. I would recommend this game to anybody. Overall Rating: 8